Ukrainian Ambassador Urges US Congress to Act as Russia Systematically Abducts Ukrainian Children
The Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, highlighted Russia's systematic abduction of Ukrainian children and called on the US Congress to take decisive action to secure their return.
The Gaze reports on this, referring to a post made by Olga Stefanishyna on Facebook.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States emphasized that Russia is systematically abducting Ukrainian children, changing their names, depriving them of their roots, and erasing their identity.
"This is not an ‘evacuation’ — it is an attempt to erase Ukrainian identity. This is an international crime that has been the subject of separate hearings in the US Congress," she noted.
At a hearing of the US Senate Appropriations Committee chaired by Senator Lindsey Graham, the Ukrainian ambassador stressed that the return of every abducted child must be a key condition for achieving peace.
She called on the international community to use all available tools to gain access to the children, create transparent lists, and ensure their immediate return.
Human rights activists and experts also gave their testimony: Mykola Kuleba (Save Ukraine), Maxim Maximov (Bring Kids Back UA), Kateryna Rashevska (Regional Human Rights Center), and Nathaniel Raymond (Yale School of Public Health). Some senators and congressmen also emphasized the mass nature of Russian abductions and the urgency of specific US action.
The Ambassador called on Congress to pass the Designating the Russian Federation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act as soon as possible, which would recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism if it does not return the abducted Ukrainian children.
In light of Russia’s systematic abductions of Ukrainian children, intensified during the full-scale invasion, their return remains a top priority for Ukraine and the international community.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a meeting with US President’s Special Representative Keith Kellogg, emphasized the need for active US and allied measures to ensure the safety of children and create conditions for their return.
At the same time, US lawmakers have taken an active role in addressing this humanitarian crisis. A new bipartisan bill in the US Congress proposed using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukrainian children illegally deported by Moscow. Initiated by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley, the legislation outlined comprehensive support for identifying and returning abducted children, providing medical, psychological, educational, and legal assistance, and ensuring their reintegration.
The scale of the tragedy is staggering: according to Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, up to 35,000 Ukrainian children may be held in Russia or Russian-occupied territories.
Research shows that children have been systematically taken from theirs homes, removed without parental consent, or forcibly separated from their families, sometimes directly from the battlefield.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Russia is holding Ukrainian children not only on its own territory, but also in Belarus and North Korea.
Read more on The Gaze: Why Ukraine’s Victory Matters for International Law